Yamaha Factory Racing highly pleased with strong start

Opening practice for the Commercial Bank Grand Prix of Qatar saw three Yamaha bikes in the top three positions. Furthermore, two of those were belonging to Yamaha Factory Racing, leaving smiles on the faces of its riders.

“To start in this way, having three Yamahas in the top three positions, is very good,” Lorenzo told motogp.com. “That means the track is very good for the brand and I started in quite an easy way…the lap times came quite easily, so that’s good. We need to improve in three aspects: the track will improve for sure, the riding will improve and I also think it’s possible to improve the bike.”

Rossi led the way for much of the session and eventually finished just 13 thousandths behind Crutchlow, meaning the top three were separated by less than a tenth of a second.

“It’s a great start for us because we have to confirm the improvement of the different setting from Jerez,” the Italian began. “Also, the bike was very good from the beginning and I was able to stay in first position for a long time. The lap time is not so bad and now we have to wait as the track condition will improve session by session, so we have to follow the increase of grip with the settings. In the meantime we can work on the small details and I can work on my riding, finding the best lines.”

Lorenzo targets his second consecutive victory at Losail, whereas Rossi is aiming for a podium finish on his return to the Japanese marque.